In June 1972, Bruce Springsteen signed a record deal with Columbia Records. ‘The Boss’ is famous for many of his hit songs, but one that rings true for me today is ‘Badlands’. The opening lyrics are quite apt…
Well, lights out tonight
Trouble in the heartland
Got a head on collision
Smashin' in my guts, man
I'm caught in a cross fire
That I don't understand
June 1972 in Northern Ireland began with a paper being presented at the Northern Ireland Office: Checkers Conference. The following points were covered;
The Attorney General introduced his paper "The Legal Picture in Northern Ireland" and outlined its conclusions, outlining that of persons brought to Court for terrorist offences, the acquittal rate of disputed cases is 40% (the same as the general acquittal rate in Great Britain. He also stated that the Lord Chief Justice's decision that any statement made by an accused after a period of interrogation at a Police Holding Centre would not be admissible, which would result in the discharge of McDermott who is accused of the murder of Sergeant Willett.
It was noted that the Attorney General has arranged for the Director of Public Prosecutions to inform the police of the pending discharge of such persons and that the Attorney General's Office will inform the Northern Ireland Office.
In a discussion about the case of McKee, an alleged dangerous member of the IRA at present awaiting trial the Secretary of State said that he did not rule out the possibility of detaining him in the same way as McDermott and, if necessary, he would do so based on reviewing his case after a set period. He would also, again, want his reasons for the detention widely publicised.
In a general discussion about Special Courts, there was agreement with the views of the Attorney General and the Lord Chief Justice that there is no immediate need for such a court in Northern Ireland.
The Attorney General outlined the difficulties in respect of cases now pending before the European Commission on Human Rights.
In a discussion about who should appoint and remove County Court Judges (at present the Ministry of Home Affairs), it was agreed to hold talks between the Secretary of State, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Attorney General.
The Secretary of State agreed that provision should be made for County Courts to exercise criminal jurisdiction during July and August.
The Secretary of State said that the RUC should be pressed to produce their report on the cases of alleged brutalities submitted by the Irish Embassy.
The Secretary of State said that he was unconvinced by arguments against the closing of Holywood Detention Centre.
Following from this there was a general discussion on interrogation techniques and Mr Woodfield explained that, since internment, interrogation techniques have aimed more at obtaining intelligence than getting successful prosecutions; there is now a need to change the order of priority.
The Secretary of State invited the Attorney General to note the points raised in the discussion and to circulate his paper, with any necessary revisions, to Gen 79.
On the 11th of June, Libyan Leader, Colonel Gaddafi announced that he had supplied arms to ‘revolutionaries’ in Ireland. On Libyan radio, Gaddafi said;
“We support the revolutionaries of Ireland, who oppose Britain and who are motivated by nationalism and religion […] There are arms and there is support for the revolutionaries of Ireland […] We have decided to create a problem for Britain and to drive a thorn in her side so as to make life difficult […] She will pay dearly.”
Stormont Castle was usually the location for the Secretary of State’s Daily Meeting, where they would discuss recent events and upcoming developments. During one such meeting on the 12th of June, they covered 4 points including violence over the previous weekend and the general situation in Northern Ireland. However, two key items of discussion were negotiations with the UDA and the Hunger Strikes.
The Bishop of Down and Connor had reported on contacts with anonymous high-ranking officials of the UDA who were believed anxious to find a way out of their commitment to erect permanent barricades next weekend. These leaders apparently did not advocate a full-scale army assault on the Londonderry 'No Go' areas but asked for some definite proposal for firm action sufficient to placate their mm extremists. In response, the Secretary of State had transmitted a message through the Bishop to the UDA representative urging them not to play the IRA game, and indicating that their understandable sense of frustration would be given sympathetic notice in his speech later in the day at Westminster. The Secretary of State agreed to meet UDA leaders the following day, Tuesday, 13th of June, and it was also agreed that there should be an earlier meeting with Mr Craig.
The Secretary of State reaffirmed the earlier decision that no further concessions are to be made to hunger strikers. There was a discussion about the wisdom of appointing an independent doctor to examine strikers. While this was agreed in principle Mr Howard-Drake and Mr Buchanan were to consider such an appointment in further detail and in particular the question of selecting the right person.
A major political development took place the next day when the IRA invited the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw, to meet them in 'Free Derry'. Whitelaw rejected the offer and reaffirmed in a statement the British government's policy not to "let part of the United Kingdom ... default from the rule of law". The offer allowed the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) to try to arrange talks between the IRA and the British government.
Subsequently, John Hume and Paddy Devlin, both members of the SDLP, held a meeting with representatives of the IRA in Derry. At that meeting, the IRA representatives outlined their conditions for talks with the British Government. The conditions were that:
There should be no restriction on who represented the IRA
There should be an independent witness at the meeting
The meeting should not be held at Stormont
'Political Status' should be granted to Republican prisoners.
Following talks with the IRA, representatives of the SDLP met William Whitelaw in London and presented the IRA conditions for a meeting. Whitelaw accepted the proposals.
The SDLP held a further meeting with Whitelaw on the 19th of June, where they discussed a current hunger strike that was taking place at Crumlin Road Jail. It was during this meeting that Whitelaw conceded 'special category' status, or 'political status' for paramilitary prisoners.
The next step in the negotiations between the IRA and the Government came on the 20th of June when a secret meeting between representatives of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and officials from William Whitelaw's office. The meeting took place at 3:00 pm in a country house in Ballyarnet, close to the Derry / Donegal border. The PIRA representatives were David O'Connell and Gerry Adams. The officials acting on behalf of William Whitelaw were P.J. Woodfield and Frank Steele (who, at the time, was an MI6 Intelligence Officer).
Public Records released on the 1st of January 2003 note the discussions that took place during the secret meeting. The meeting laid the groundwork for a PIRA ceasefire and a direct (secret) meeting between the PIRA and the British government on the 7th of July 1972.
Following the secret meeting, the IRA announced that it would call a ceasefire from the 26th of June 1972 provided that there is a "reciprocal response" from the security forces. The IRA began a "bilateral truce" at midnight on that date.
On the other side of the conflict, the UDA began to organise its own 'no-go' (urban areas which were entirely controlled by the group and blocked off by barricades) areas on the 30th of June. UDA members stopped and questioned people at these barricades and a number of them were killed, usually when they were found to be Catholic. This was seen as a response to the continuation of Republican 'no-go' areas and fears about concessions to the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
In terms of shootings that occurred in June 1972, unfortunately, even with the hope of a ceasefire, things followed at a similar level to what we had seen during the months that proceeded, with over 20 shootings occurring during the month.
04/06/72 - The UVF shot dead a Catholic civilian, Gerard Murray (26), at his shop on Annesley Street, Belfast.
06/06/72 - Two British Army soldiers were killed in separate IRA sniper attacks in Belfast. George Lee (22), was shot by a sniper while on foot patrol, at Ballymurphy Parade, Ballymurphy, Belfast. Charles Coleman (29) was shot by a sniper while on mobile patrol, in Tullymore Gardens, Andersonstown, Belfast.
08/06/72 - A UDR soldier on mobile patrol, Edward Megahey (44), died three days after being shot by an IRA sniper, on Buncrana Road, Derry.
09/06/72 - An off-duty UDR soldier, Roy Stanton (27), was shot dead as he left his workplace, Autolite factory, Finaghy Road North, Belfast.
10/06/72 - The UDA carried out a drive-by shooting on a group of Catholic teenagers in Belfast. A Catholic civilian (Marian Brown, 17) was killed and several others wounded as they stood on the corner of Roden Street and Grosvenor Road. The British Army were on patrol when they exchanged shots with a gunman in the car, who was wielding a Thompson submachine gun.
11/06/72 - The UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian (John Madden, 43) as he swept the footpath outside his shop on Oldpark Road, Belfast.
11/06/72 - An Irish Republican Army Youth Section (IRAF) volunteer (Joseph Campbell (16) was shot dead during a gun battle at Eskdale Gardens, Ardoyne, Belfast.
11/06/72 - A Protestant civilian (Norman McGrath, 18) was shot by a passing British Army Armoured Personnel Carrier as he walked along Alloa Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast.
11/06/72 - A British soldier (Peter Raistrick, 18) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while at the Brooke Park British Army base, Derry.
12/06/72 - A British Army soldier, Alan Giles (24), was shot dead by the IRA during a gun battle in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
16/06/72 - John Johnson (59), who had been shot twice on 'Bloody Sunday' (30th of January 1972), died. His family was convinced that he died prematurely and that his death was a result of the injuries he received and the trauma he underwent on that day.
19/06/72 - Desmond Mackin (37), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) in the Cracked Cup Social Club, Leeson Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Mackin was involved in an altercation with PIRA members, part of a feud between the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) and the Provisionals.
19/06/72 - A British soldier, Bryan Sodden (21), was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on mobile patrol, at Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.
21/06/72 - A British soldier, Kerry McCarthy (19), was shot dead while on sentry duty outside Victoria Royal Ulster Constabulary/British Army base, Derry.
22/06/72 - At approximately noon four men were shot and injured in the Glen Road area of west Belfast.
23/06/72 - The UVF carried out a drive-by shooting on a group of Catholics standing outside a bank at the corner of Antrim Road and Atlantic Avenue, Belfast. One Catholic civilian, Patrick McCullough (17), was killed and another wounded.
24/06/72 - A UDA paramilitary (John Brown, 29), was found shot near his home, Blackmountain Parade, Springmartin, Belfast. He had been killed in an internal Ulster Defence Association dispute.
26/06/72 - The IRA killed two British Army soldiers (James Meredith, 20 and Malcolm Banks, 30) in separate attacks during the day.
26/06/72 - A UDA volunteer (John Black, 32) was shot by the British Army at a barricade in Douglas Street, off Beersbridge Road, Belfast during street disturbances. He died five weeks later.
27/06/72 - A civilian (Bernard Norney, 38) was shot dead by the IRA after attempting to drive through one of their vehicle checkpoints.
27/06/72 - A UDA volunteer (William Galloway, 18) was shot dead by an unknown Republican group in Edlingham Street, Tiger's Bay, Belfast during street disturbances.
Truth be told, I needed to take a walk away from my laptop after writing about all the shootings that had taken place. It’s crazy to think that all of that happened in a single month!
As if over 20 shootings weren’t enough devastation, there was also a further five bombing incidents to report on from June 1972.
02/06/72 - Two British Army soldiers, Victor Husband (23) and Brian Robertson (23) were killed by an IRA land mine attack on their foot patrol, Derryvolan, near Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
08/06/72 - Inspector Samuel Donegan, a member of the Garda Síochána, was killed on the County Cavan side of the cross-border Drumboghangh Road, near the village of Redhills, by a roadside IRA bomb on the border with County Fermanagh. The bomb exploded very near the South Fermanagh hamlet of Wattlebridge.
17/06/72 - The IRA exploded a 150 - 200lb car bomb outside the Woodvale Arms public house at the end of the Shankill Road, Belfast. 18 people were injured in the blast despite a 20-minute warning.
18/06/72 - Three British soldiers (Arthur McMillan (37), Ian Mutch (31) and Colin Leslie (26)) were killed in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack. The bomb had been left in a derelict house in Bleary, County Armagh.
24/06/72 - A bomb and gun attack occurred in the early morning of the 24th of June 1972, in the village of Crabarkey along the main A6 Belfast to Derry road just outside Dungiven. An army Land Rover was escorting a lorry that was transporting a crippled helicopter, damaged in a crash landing, toward RAF Aldergrove in County Antrim. IRA volunteers detonated a 120 pounds (54 kg) bomb hidden in two milk churns as the convoy passed, catching seven soldiers in the blast, killing three and injuring four of them. Immediately after the blast, the IRA opened fire on the lorry that had been following the Land Rover and three more soldiers including a helicopter pilot were injured. The three soldiers killed in the blast were Lance-Corporal David Moon (24) of No. 664 Squadron AAC, Private Christopher Stevenson (24) of the Parachute Regiment and Sergeant Stuart Reid (28) of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Malachy Bernard O'Kane, a farmer, was convicted of the attack and was ordered to serve at least 25 years of a life term. O'Kane was later released from prison and unsuccessfully ran as a Sinn Féin Candidate for Parliament in the 1997 general election.
As always, thanks very much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it enough to come back on Thursday to read the next instalment.
Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment of Tales of The Troubles.